Our Insights > Usability

Microsoft’s Office Web Apps has now received a refresh, bringing a new user interface and additional useful features. The Office Web Apps interface now sports a more flattened look, with improved spacing to make it touch-friendly – although it isn’t a fully touch-optimised UI, Microsoft has previously announced that it’s developing a version of Office that has been designed specifically for touch and Windows 8.1, so the latest enhancements are a step in that direction. The most significant change to be noted is a new “Tell Me” bar that sits at the top of documents so that users can conveniently…

Fans of getting creative with customising their iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad will be pleased to know that Apalon has today announced the release of their new 2.0 version of popular Pimp Your Screen (the previous version won Best Wallpaper app of 2011 and 2012). Developer MYW Productions has evidently taken their time with usability testing – the latest 2.0 version has undergone a total overhaul and boasts a brand new user interface which is easier than ever before to navigate. Once a person launches the app, they immediately find themselves in a nifty gallery of unique content – further…

A year of continuous design and usability improvements has yielded impressive results for New Zealand’s official consumer website, newzealand.com. The site has broken all previous records during the January period, with 1.5 million visitors and 235,000 referrals from industry related pages. Catherine Bates, General Manager & Head of International PR, commented on the achievement: “The results seen in January conclude a year of incremental growth resulting in the site’s strongest 12 month period – visits are up 4% and referrals up 18% for the year ending 31 January.” Two major promotional campaigns were launching in late 2012 which significantly boosted…

Have already successfully made big waves in the consumer market, Dropbox have upped their game in an attempt to gain a larger slice of the corporate market. They have released an extensive upgrade to their cloud storage service, including the capability to allow IT administrators to closely track which users have viewed a file and a what time, as well as being able to instantaneously grant or withhold file permissions. The new dashboard is the company’s first major upgrade for 18 months and was based around customer feedback. Dropbox’s Sujay Jaswa commented: “When we asked our customers what they needed…

There have long been whispers about the possibility of Apple releasing a wrist watch device, although on the other hand it is sometimes easier to count the things that the technology giant is not rumoured to be working on. Nevertheless, while there have been no official announcements, the Internet has recently lit up with speculation and fan produced concept art, stoking discussion on the rumour. Now reports have reached us that Apple are testing a watch-like device powered by iOS in their Cupertino headquarters, so we could be on the brink of another new platform gold rush. Though details are…

Summary Mobile apps should clearly prioritise key content and provide a ‘Back’ button if the device does not. Mobile apps should also minimise users’ data entry and ensure a consistent user experience across different mobile device orientations. Introduction – mobile app usability According to recent data, approximately 56% of the UK population have an active mobile-broadband subscription [1]. This means that designing for mobile devices has become a critical usability issue for most organisations. Whilst the usability guidelines for designing for mobile devices are still evolving (based on the audience’s developing familiarity with – and our usability knowledge of –…